Quikr breaks language barrier, goes vernacular

The new features allow consumers to browse, search, post ads, and interact with buyers and sellers in their language of choice.BENGALURU: Cross-country classifieds business Quikr has announced the launch of vernacular language support for consumers accessing the Quikr platform, in a move aimed at breaking the language barrier for India’s diverse population. Quikr allows consumers to choose from seven different languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi, to browse as well as post ads in.

The new features allow consumers to browse, search, post ads, and interact with buyers and sellers in their language of choice. Quikr has used various technologies to also ensure that there is no delay in rendering ads in any of the available languages on the platform.

“With Indian internet expanding beyond air-conditioned offices and homes and into the streets of the country, local languages are definitely the next frontier for us. I strongly believe that language should no longer be a barrier for people seeking to transact online and am super excited about the strong response our verticals such as QuikrC2C and QuikrJobs have already received in local languages,” said Pranay Chulet, founder and CEO, Quikr.

“Using technology to empower our consumers has always been at the heart of our innovations. 88% of India’s population is non-English speaking. By enabling them to communicate, create and consume content in their preferred languages, we are working towards making our platform a more inclusive online classifieds marketplace,” said Anurag Saran, chief product officer, Quikr.

Quikr is used by over 30 million unique users a month. It is present in 1000 cities in India and operates in over 10 categories that include mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education. Its investors include Warburg Pincus, Kinnevik, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India, and Norwest Venture Partners.